Tredegar teacher struck off after uploading indecent image of a child onto school network

A PRIMARY school teacher was struck off today after the General Teaching Council for Wales found he introduced pornography as well as what appeared to be an indecent image of a child into his school's computer network in Tredegar.

Robert Adams accidentally uploaded his pornography collection after backing up Deighton Primary School files to his own memory stick during routine maintenance of the server, the teaching council heard.

After he had restored the school files on October 8 2009, a nursery school teacher found thumbnail images of naked women in a file called 'Glam' which she assumed was short for Glamorgan.

When the school computers were examined, 80 pornographic images of adult women as well as what appeared to be a Level One indecent image of a naked girl aged approximately 15 or 16, were discovered, the disciplinary hearing at the Parc Hotel in Cardiff was told.

A video of a girl who appeared to be 15 or 16 and partially clothed was also found in the recycle bin of Adams' laptop, DC Blair Jones told the hearing, which began back in February. The day after the images were discovered, Adams handed in the memory stick he said he had used to back up the school files.

It had been wiped but after forensic examination police were able to detect the "Glam" folder had existed on it at one point, DC Jones told the teaching council hearing.

Roger Fawke, head teacher at the time, said Adams had always seemed a trustworthy and enthusiastic person, adding he was "one of if not the best classroom professionals I have worked with" in a statement read to the hearing.

But Steve Powell, chairing the panel, said they would impose a prohibition order banning Adams from the teaching register for five years from today. After that he will be eligible to reapply to join but acceptance is not guaranteed.

Mr Powell said: "This was a particularly serious incident of unacceptable professional conduct."

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The apparent indecent image of a child found was "fundamentally incompatible with [Adams] continuing to be a registered teacher", he added.

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